RPWS Chapter 092

The arrow pointed straight ahead at 12 o’clock.

At the end of the alley, a wall stood in their way, and beyond it, a row of houses, both large and small.

There wasn’t enough time to find their way back, wandering through the obstacles.

Elaine and Ash continued on their way, leaping over the wall. They didn’t even have to step on the wall to reach the rooftops.

A bright blue sky spread overhead. They started running across the rooftops, following the compass. The hem of their long robes flapping in the wind.

Even within the small island, the closer it was to the dock, the larger the village was. Conversely, as they got further away from the coast, the houses that were clumped together become sparser and the number of buildings decreases.

As expected, they didn’t have to go far. Before long, a village the size of the palm of the hand came into view.

Low roofs could be seen sporadically in the green fields. A stream flowed through the outskirts of the village, and a lone house was visible on the right side of the stream.

The arrow was pointing there.

“I guess he’s over there.”

They headed to the house by the stream without further delay. As the distance decreased, the light on the arrow began flashing.

When they reached the front of the house, Elaine grabbed another magic tool she’d stowed away.

A bright light erupted from the magic tool, and a transparent film, like glass, surrounded the area like a dome.

Bam!

She opened the door roughly and saw a man wearing a black hood standing there, frozen.

“…Uh, how…!”

The hooded man, no, Talos Asgar, opened his eyes wide.

The inside of the house was in shambles. There were all sorts of things lying around on the old floor from his hasty packing.

He quickly cast a spell.

“Why, why can’t I teleport…?!”

The light from his spell that’d gathered around him was unable to fulfil his will and dispersed.

‘Of course it won’t work.’

The tool that Elaine used a little while ago contained magic that blocked all teleportation within its range.

The opponent was a wizard. He was also a high-ranking magician who once worked for the royal family and served as the division commander in the battle to subdue the dragon.

There’s no way they wouldn’t have prepared for when they faced him.

There were a lot of people on the streets so they weren’t able to use it then, but things were different now. Talos, who was attempting to teleport again, seemed to have noticed something and soon his face was filled with confusion.

Sigh.

“Talos Asgar.”

Ash spoke in a quiet voice, pulling out his sword and pointing it at him.

“I have something to ask you.”

The man’s shoulders visibly stiffened when his name was called. He hesitated, stepping back.

“Me… I don’t know anything!”

The man shouted impatiently.

“How long are you going to chase me? Why are you doing this to me?”

There was something strange about his reaction.

They hadn’t even revealed their purpose yet, so what was he talking about?

“Seriously, I don’t know!”

It was as if he’d already been questioned by someone before.

Perhaps they weren’t the only ones after him? Ash frowned slightly.

“I think you’re mistaken, we…”

He tried to say that they’d come to find out the whereabouts of Walter Lister. That he was the last person to see him, and ask about what happened that night.

However, Ash barely had a chance to speak.

Talos gritted his teeth and stretched out his hands towards them. Light flashed from his fingertips and a large fireball shot out.

Kwaaang-!!

The scorching fireball broke the doorway where they were standing. When they reflexively jumped and dodged the attack, more fireballs came flying at them one after another.

Elaine spoke while dodging the attacks.

“I don’t think he’ll listen to us.”

“I guess we’ll have to subdue him first.”

She hadn’t expected him to talk easily, but this was not what she’d been expecting.

In the aftermath of the attack, the walls of the house collapsed. Talos fled over the collapsed wall to the other side. Ash and Elaine quickly chased after him.

Talos continued to use fire magic toward those pursuing them. Condensed energy and hot flames flew out, and dozens of ice spears rained down, blocking their view.

Each one of these close-range attacks had the potential to severely harm them, if it landed.

However, they paid no heed to that and went straight towards the wizard.

Ash swung his sword and purple mana swirled around the cold blade. The fireball was cut in half by his sword. The mass of energy that was flying along with him split horizontally, creating a gap like a wave breaking apart.

Elaine leapt through the gap without missing a beat.

In an instant, the distance between Talos and her lessened. A shield was seen spread out around him.

A wall of magic made thick and solid, a clear display of his skill level.

However, it was meaningless in front of her, who wielded the strongest and purest sword mana. When her sword struck his shield, the transparent magic cracked and shattered helplessly.

“Tsk…!”

Talos was left defenseless and exposed to her sword.

‘I finally got him.’

With that thought, she swung her blade toward Talos’s shoulder.

“…!”

Elaine reflexively turned her body and changed the sword’s trajectory.

Kang-!

The flying arrow struck her sword and bounced off.

Elaine and Ash turned their heads at the same time. Behind Talos’ half-collapsed house, there was a large garden.

Someone with a bow was standing there. Since their presence was so faint and felt from the mountain, they hadn’t paid much attention to it.

‘Who is that guy?’

After a while, she felt unfamiliar figures approaching one by one from afar. Eventually, shadows slowly appeared between the thick trees.

By rough estimate, the number was over twenty. Everyone was wearing black masks.

Elaine narrowed her brows with a sharp look.

“Assassins?”

She couldn’t help but think so. Was this another assassination attempt on Ash again?

However, very few people knew of their whereabouts, and if they had been followed, there was no way they wouldn’t’ve noticed.

Their question was quickly answered.

Just then, the masked figures in the lead charged at them.

To be exact, at Talos Asgar, who was behind them.

“…!”

Several masked figures threw daggers coated with sword energy at Talos. Sharp daggers flew toward his vital areas.

Ash reacted reflexively and struck them all down. As soon as that happened, countless arrows rained down upon Talos.

The enchanted arrows caused an explosion.

“Ugh!”

Talos quickly dodged, rolling on the ground roughly.

He’d just used countless magic spells while dealing with Ash and Elaine a little while ago. Because of this, his mana was running low.

Ash blocked the attacks and frowned.

‘Is he the target?’

They were clearly targeting Talos Asgar.

Now he understood why Talos had desperately tried to run away as soon as he saw them? He’d been chased by these people before.

The masked men wielding swords were all high-level masters. Archers and wizards attacked from the rear. This attack had clearly been planned out in advance.

But he couldn’t let them kill Talos, there was something they needed to hear from him.

“Agh!”

“Uhhh!”

Crimson blood spurted from the masked men. Just two people faced more than ten times as many masters and wizards, yet they didn’t have a single scratch on their bodies.

There was no need try and take them alive, assassins trained at this level would probably commit suicide anyway if they were captured.

While Ash and Elaine were dealing with the assassins, Talos staggered to his feet and ran away without even looking back.

“Chase him!”

One of the assassins shouted, then the others tried to chase after Talos.

“That won’t do.”

Daggers flew like arrows, embedding deep into the backs of those who were running.

Elaine smiled coldly.

“We also have business with that person.”

They had no intention of losing the only clue they’d barely been able to find. Now their priority was to deal with these guys first.

They wouldn’t leave a single thing in their way.

 

* * *

 

Martin, the captain of the ship, took a deep breath.

‘How much is here?’

He opened the heavy pouch he’d kept close to his chest. It was full of sparkling golden coins and jewels. It was an amount he never imagined he’d see in his lifetime.

To be honest, when he received this money and set sail, he thought he’d gone crazy for a moment. He’d started to break into a cold sweat out of anxiety, wondering if he’d end up a Kraken snack.

But fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Did the sea god hear his prayers?

He was just grateful to be alive.

‘Still, it’s too early to be relieved.’

The deal with the hooded figures was not yet done. There was still one more voyage to go before they were done, the return journey to Volperand.

He could only hope nothing happened then either…

Praying hard, Martin pushed his worries aside. Instead, he decided to savor a little of the joy of the present. The lovely jewels dazzled him. He kissed each one of them in ecstasy.

He was standing at the front of the ship, waiting for his passengers.

As he stood there waiting for them, he saw someone running toward him. A hooded figure with a large bag on his back, he wondered if it might be one of the two from before.

But the person in front of him was not who he’d been waiting for.

It was a stranger, and he quickly grabbed Martin, panting hard.

“What, what?”

“Hah, hah, hah! Get the boat, get the boat, get the boat launched now!”

What the hell was he talking about?

As Martin raised his eyebrows and was about to say something, the man held out a large bag.

“I’ll give you any amount of money you want. If this isn’t enough, I’ll give you a new boat after we leave the island.”

It was an enormous sum. Almost as much as the gentleman before had given.

Martin’s eyes widened for a moment, but he quickly composed himself.

“Hmmm, mmm, I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”

To be honest, he almost agreed, but he couldn’t break the contract.

Trust is the basis for making a living in this world, and because he was unsure of the rank of the robed figures from before, he couldn’t help but think about the repercussion if he crossed them.

Furthermore, the man’s nervous appearance and tattered clothes made him look like he was being chased by someone.

What kind of disaster would he get himself into if he picked up this guy?

“I already have a contract with someone else. So, I’ll send someone else…”

“There’s no time for that.”

The man interrupted Martin.

Martin’s ship had just recently been docked and was scheduled to set sail again carrying those who’d signed the contract. That means he was currently the only ship ready to depart at the moment.

A flame blossomed from the man’s hand.

“Ugh!”

“If money won’t work, there’s no other choice. I’m in such a hurry now that I don’t know what else to do. So, launch the boat right now!”

He didn’t have enough mana left to use teleportation or powerful magic, but it wasn’t difficult to threaten a powerless civilian.

His sharp eyes gazed straight at the captain.

The sight of his face hidden beneath the hood made the captain turn pale.